In Need Of A Change | Sunday Shares

Sunday, November 18, 2018

Good morning, friends. I'm writing this from bed Sunday morning before I head off to brunch with my family. I'm wishing I had gotten up earlier to work up more of an appetite because the menu for this place looks insane, but I'll probably still eat enough for two people anyway.

I missed a Wednesday posting day again two weeks back and found my mind wandering again to, What if I stopped blogging? I thought about this last year too, around this same time of year. Must be something in the air.

I'll save you my internal monologue and cut right to the chase: I won't. It was tempting, because for a good while now this blog hasn't felt the same to me. Too often I feel pressured (by me) to get a post out on a certain day rather than eager to share. What changed my mind (again) was that I've had people reaching out to me recently with stories they want to share through my Finding Your Spark series, so my blog does mean something to someone. I like sharing and connecting with people. So it'll stay.

But what I do need to do is reduce my posts to once a week so I can find my real passion in it again and stop blog about blogging, jeez. Thanks to a good ol' Instagram poll, Sundays are now my posting days. Anything beyond that is a bonus. I also need to change the name. I'm not opposed to something playful but I want something with a little meaning this time.

In other news, with Thanksgiving coming up, please remember to take some time this week to recognize the good in your life and be grateful.

Here's what I've been loving lately:

"The Haunting of Hill House"

I finished this show two weeks ago and still can't stop thinking about it. It was so good. It's a show about five siblings who grew up in what is now known (in this fictional show) as the most haunted house in the country. Now adults, they're brought together and find themselves facing the ghosts of their past.

The first half of the show is scary/creepy and the second half is just twisted. What I loved the most was that there was so much more to it than the creepy factor. I feel like most characters in scary movies or shows are only there to be scared. "Haunting of Hill House" was different. Each character had their own personality, backstory, and plot line. It was a fully developed show that happened to also be scary, if that makes sense.

Monday Motivator

My friend Laura has a series on her blog called the Monday Motivator, meant to motivate encourage, inspire, and provide advice on real life stuff. I look forward to it every week. She's written about being kind, social media purging, recharging, being spontaneous, and staying close to the things that make you feel alive. They are a great start to the week, offering a fresh perspective on different aspects of life.

"Thank U, Next"

On repeat for days weeks, obviously.

To be honest, I never paid much attention to Ariana Grande until her One Love Manchester concert, which I thought was just amazing. She is such a compassionate person, and her latest single really demonstrates her growth and maturity.

Jodi Picoult on "Ctrl Alt Delete" podcast

Jodi Picoult is my favorite author, so of course I listened to this interview immediately after it went up. The conversation revolves around Picoult's latest book, "A Spark of Light," about a gunman opening fire in a women's reproductive health services clinic and taking people hostage. The story begins with the gunman and police hostage negotiator. From there, each chapter goes back an hour, revealing how all of these characters ended up there.

In the interview, Jodi Picoult and Emma Gannon, the host of the podcast, talk about abortion and planned parenthood. Picoult recalls how when she was in college, she supported a friend who had an abortion, yet later in her life, when she herself was pregnant with her third child at the same stage and there were complications, she viewed that as losing a baby, and she wondered how she could hold both of those views at the same time. I found this to be so interesting because it's probably pretty common.

I love Picoult books because they explore an ethical dilemma from an objective point of view. She gets you thinking about the opposing side that you may never have considered otherwise. I cannot wait to read this one.